These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 36-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past day.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL NEWSLETTER | BECOME A SUPPORTER ON PATREON
The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
A HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GAME IN DALLAS ENDED IN A SHOOTING
An 18-year-old male was shot during the game after a fight broke out inside the Davis Field House around 9:10 p.m., according to a press release from the Dallas Police Department. He was transported to a local hospital where he remained in critical condition Sunday night. On Sunday, a 15-year-old male turned himself into the police and was charged with aggravated assault, according to police. Two other juveniles have been identified as persons of interest but will not be charged, the release said. The game was between South Oak Cliff High School and Justin F. Kimball High School, CNN affiliate KTVT reported.
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
QUEEN AGREES ON ‘PERIOD OF TRANSITION’ FOR HARRY AND MEGHAN
After a crisis meeting of senior royals at the Queen’s Sandringham estate north of London, the Queen said she had agreed that Prince Harry and Meghan could split their time between the UK and Canada but that “complex matters” would have to be resolved. The monarch said she had ordered final plans to be drawn up in the next few days. In a statement after the meeting, the Queen said the family would have preferred the couple to “remain full-time working members of the royal family,” but that they “respect and understand” Prince Harry and Meghan’s “wish to live a more independent life.”
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
VISA TO ACQUIRE PLAID, THE FINTECH POWERING VENMO AND OTHER BANKING APPS, FOR $5.3 BILLION
Plaid’s API software, often referred to as the “plumbing” behind fintech companies, lets start-ups connect to users’ bank accounts. It’s well-known among financial technology developers, but the average person interacting with it most likely wouldn’t recognize the name. High-profile Plaid customers include popular peer-to-peer payment app Venmo, mobile investing app Robinhood and cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini. As of December, Plaid said one in four people in the United States with bank accounts have connected to the fintech company through an app. Visa and rival Mastercard were early investors in the start-up, along with the venture arms of Citi and American Express.
[SOURCE: cnbc.com]
CORY BOOKER DROPS OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE
In an email to his supporters, Booker cited a number of reasons: most notably, a lack of money to continue. His campaign also released a video message on Monday. Booker was viewed as a powerful communicator on the campaign trail, yet his candidacy never really caught fire with Democratic voters, as they seek a candidate best positioned to take on President Trump.
[SOURCE: npr.org]
WILLIAM BARR’S CALL FOR APPLE TO UNLOCK THE PENSACOLA SHOOTER’S IPHONES REOPENS THE ENCRYPTION DEBATE
Attorney General William Barr said in a press conference on Monday that the December mass shooting on a Pensacola, Florida, naval air station — which resulted in the deaths of three US sailors as well as the shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani — was an act of terrorism. He then called on Apple to give law enforcement access to Alshamrani’s two iPhones to see if he communicated with terrorist groups or had any co-conspirators. (Because iPhones have a security feature that wipes a phone’s data if too many incorrect six-digit passcodes are entered, law enforcement can’t simply guess at the right one.) Barr’s very public demand — and complaints over Apple’s non-cooperation thus far — were likely meant to ramp up pressure on the company to comply.
[SOURCE: vox.com]
MLB SUSPENDS HOUSTON ASTROS GM, MANAGER FOR SIGN-STEALING IN 2017 WORLD SERIES
Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were both suspended for one year. MLB’s ruling also forces the Astros to forfeit their first and second-round draft picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts, according to an announcement from the league on Monday. Shortly after the release of the report, the Astros fired Luhnow and Hinch, the team announced.
[SOURCE: abcnews.go.com]
TIGER WOODS CADDIES FOR HIS SON CHARLIE DURING JUNIOR GOLF EVENT
Tiger Woods was spotted over the weekend caddying for his son Charlie Axel, who turns 11 next month, during a junior golf event in South Florida, according to the Golf Channel. Video captured by an onlooker shows the professional golfer, 44, standing by Charlie as the child showed off his best swing, while other photos showed Woods carrying his son’s golf bag. Although Charlie didn’t end up winning the nine-hole event, he did impress many on social media with his advanced skills.
[SOURCE: people.com]
DALLAS TATTOO LEGEND OLIVER PECK REMOVED FROM NATIONAL TELEVISION IN THE WAKE OF BLACKFACE PHOTOS
The blackface photos, which quickly went viral, stunned not only the internet but also Dallas’ tattoo subculture. The person who answered a call to Elm Street Tattoo said they would provide a statement at a later time. The website popculture.com describes the photos as follows: “The photos, which apparently were taken from his old MySpace account, show [Peck] wearing dark makeup all over his face and body while dressed as a basketball player and a superhero with a racist logo for Halloween. TMZ also reported Peck dressed as a Playboy bunny while wearing blackface.”
[SOURCE: dallasnews.com]
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Connect with us directly by emailing us at theconversationinbox@gmail.com or by simply visiting thisistheconversation.com.
